Expat Foreign Exchange News

Times are changing as regards planning for retirement, with actual pension plans beginning to lose their popularity due to government-initiated rule changes and media exposure of unsuitable products and even scams.
DIY investment is a scary thought for many expat retirees, mostly due to its jargons and the need to study before taking major plunges. However, retirement doesn’t have to mean brain death, and researching into investment possibilities can be far more interesting than learning a new language. The added bonuses are saving...

Following yet another fall in the value of sterling on Wednesday, British expats working in the UAE rushed to transfer funds back to the UK.
Sterling fell a further 0.7 per cent against the US dollar, the local currency to which the dollar is pegged, starting a rush by UK expats to send even more money back home and causing remittance transactions to rise above the norm by 25 per cent. Expats from neighbouring European states also took the advantage to increase their savings simply by relocating them to their home countries.
The...

The recent devaluation of sterling has proved a bonanza for expats, with online UK shopping sites seeing a huge increase in turnover.
Following the rush from overseas for UK properties since sterling fell dramatically on the news that the Brexit referendum’s Leave campaign had won, online British sales websites have seen a similar rush to buy. The plunging pound has brought unprecedented demand from overseas buyers for all kinds of UK goods from clothing to favourite foodstuffs.
One online favourite, Waitrose, now offering its...

London is now a cheaper city to live in for expats than Geneva, Hong Kong and the Angolan capital Luanda revealed a new study.
The British capital came 12th in the latest cost of living poll, which looked at the priciest cities for multinational companies to base their expatriate employees.
The news may come as a surprise for HSBC as it considers changing its headquarters from London to Hong Kong, with the East Asian city being named the world’s second most expensive city to base expat staff.
The study, which is conducted...

According to a recent survey, two thirds of pensioners are now less financially well off compared to ten years ago.
Equiniti, a pension payments firm, have looked into how pensions being paid in Sterling compare to other currencies.
With the majority of the firm’s 60,000 clients living in the Eurozone, this is bad news although the growing pound enables people to enjoy a higher exchange rate in other countries.
Over the past year, the pound has increased 10 per cent in value against the euro, yet the pensioners are worse off...

Sri Lankans living overseas will now be permitted to vote in their country’s polls in further changes made under President Maithripala’s Sirisena’s new regime.
The last Sri Lankan elections were held on 8 January, but expatriates, of whom there are an estimated 1.7 million, were not allowed to cast their ballots.
However, under the new regime arrangements are being made to rectify the situation and allow them their votes, according to the Muslim Tamil Alliance leader and former deputy mayor of Colombo, Azath Salley, who is...

A New Zealand expat in the UK has been found dead on a mountain after being missing for several days.
Michael Flanagan, originally from Napier in New Zealand, told hotel staff in Windermere, around 130kms north of Manchester, he was going for a walk two weeks ago and never returned.
Cumbria Police confirmed they had found Mr Flanagan’s body on the mountain of Helvellyn on Monday. Hotel employees said that he had spoken of his plans to climb the mountain while on holiday in the northwestern region.
The New Zealander, 45, had...

As the pound strengthens along with the recovery in the UK, a newly-introduced online currency index will help travellers and expats to select the countries with the most favourable rates.
Fluctuating currency rates are an endless worry for most expats on UK pensions or with investments paying interest in sterling. Over the last year, the winners have been those living in South Africa, Turkey and Thailand, with the strong pound and weakness of local currencies granting them between 20 and 30 per cent more spending power.
In...

Currency fluctuations since the 2008 financial crisis have hit British expats all over the world, but retirees in Canada have been the worst sufferers from the falling pound sterling.
Taking the UK state pension as it was in April 2007 as a benchmark, foreign exchange expert have calculated the losses to British pensioners in a number of worldwide destinations. At that point in time, sterling was strong against a range of currencies, and bought 2.29 Canadian dollars.
Six years later, the exchange rate has fallen to 1.65 CA$ to the...

With offshore and onshore banks cutting their interest rates seemingly on a weekly basis, many expats and offshore savers are giving up on chasing the best rates.
Tracking currency movements via offshore banks offering accounts in US dollars, sterling and Euros with the option of switching currencies may seem to be the upcoming way to make money from savings. However, experts in currency trading are warning that it’s not for the faint-hearted or the inexperienced.
It sounds simple – for example, if your savings are in Euros at...